Frustrations with Encore

[Katya]

bob recently mentioned a couple of frustrations with Encore: (1) inconsistent / overly strict enforcement of accuracy of lyrics and (2) picking themes that are too broad and / or adding limitations to the theme during the game.

Does anyone else have other frustrations to share or thoughts on these two issues?

[krebscout]

If somebody had the actual board game, you could pick themes from their card stack. They do a pretty good job of balancing difficulty and...ease.

[Marduk]

My frustrations are pretty much the same, as I've mentioned, but I'll just add this. Random enforcement of accuracy of lyrics seems unfair (i.e., "I think that lyric's wrong. Lemme check.") We ought to either check them all, or check none of them. As far as the second, if we have to add a limitation in the game (last round, for example, which would have gone on for another dozen rounds at least) it should be done a little more democratically, and once, not every day.

[Katya]

If somebody had the actual board game, you could pick themes from their card stack. They do a pretty good job of balancing difficulty and...ease.

True. I don't have the game, but I'd consider tracking one down. (But I've also had fun thinking of categories for if I ever win. Can I still use my categories?)

[vorpal blade]

I've got the game.

[Katya]

My frustrations are pretty much the same, as I've mentioned, but I'll just add this. Random enforcement of accuracy of lyrics seems unfair (i.e., "I think that lyric's wrong. Lemme check.") We ought to either check them all, or check none of them.

If we check them all, what if people know a song well and have genuinely misheard or misinterpreted part of the lyrics? (E.g., when I went to post "Eight Days a Week," I realized I didn't know if it was "Eight days a week, I'll love you" or "Eight days a week, I love you."

If we check none of them, is it fair if people post songs they don't know well and get the words wrong? (E.g., I'm up before most of you because of time zones. What if I keep stealing your song picks and getting the words wrong, to top it off?)

I don't necessarily disagree with you, I'm just pointing out more issues that could arise with an all-or-nothing approach.

As far as the second, if we have to add a limitation in the game (last round, for example, which would have gone on for another dozen rounds at least) it should be done a little more democratically, and once, not every day.

Maybe we could say that no game can last longer than x amount of time (a week?) and we'll pick randomly from the parties that are still playing, at that point. (As well as encouraging people to pick more narrow categories, in the first place.)

[Katya]

I've got the game.

Excellent! Which edition is it?

[bobtheenchantedone]

I have the game (first edition), but I do like coming up with fun categories that wouldn't work and therefore don't exist in the game. Plus I think a lot of the words and categories would be too broad for a game where you have a day instead of 30 seconds to think of a song.

[Katya]

I have the game (first edition), but I do like coming up with fun categories that wouldn't work and therefore don't exist in the game. Plus I think a lot of the words and categories would be too broad for a game where you have a day instead of 30 seconds to think of a song.

So, what do you suggest for ways to prevent rounds from lasting for weeks?

[C is for]

I have the game (first edition), but I do like coming up with fun categories that wouldn't work and therefore don't exist in the game. Plus I think a lot of the words and categories would be too broad for a game where you have a day instead of 30 seconds to think of a song.

So, what do you suggest for ways to prevent rounds from lasting for weeks?

Being specific about the restrictions and not using a very large category. For example (I don't mind giving away this topic, as long as people promise not to start making lists), one I've thought of is "Opposites," where within one song you have to find two words that are opposites of each other. While there are still enough to make the game interesting, there's not an unlimited number. (Even more stringent would be within 8 words, but that's not what I would do.)

One I've discarded is "superlatives." For obvious reasons.

As far as checking lyrics go, I posted in my blog today and found to my dismay that my usage of "Blue Caravan" was all messed up. It's the wild wild wailing of wind, not the wild wild wailing wind. But I think if I'd done that in the original version of the game, no one would've noticed (I have never once heard that of, and I know that song). I'm skeptical about being picky about little things like that. But I do think that if someone thinks that someone else got the lyrics wrong, they should ask. Like when I asked Katya if she was sure it was "gold and silver" and not "silver and gold." Well, at least I'm willing to be shot down for not knowing a song.

Not sure.

[Katya]

But I do think that if someone thinks that someone else got the lyrics wrong, they should ask. Like when I asked Katya if she was sure it was "gold and silver" and not "silver and gold." Well, at least I'm willing to be shot down for not knowing a song.

So, maybe play that part as if we're playing in person? I.e., in person, you'd be able to call me on "gold and silver" vs. "silver and gold" or I'd have been able to call Marduk on "I saw three ships go sailing by."

[Marduk]

Which would be as Bob suggested; i.e., no checking on folks to verify. Only verification from personal knowledge would be acceptable.

[Katya]

Which would be as Bob suggested; i.e., no checking on folks to verify. Only verification from personal knowledge would be acceptable.

Can someone (maybe the theme-picker) check on the lyrics if there's a disagreement?

[vorpal blade]

I've got the game.

Excellent! Which edition is it?

I have the Deluxe edition.

[Katya]

Before we start the next round, did we come to any consensus about addressing the concerns mentioned above?

[bobtheenchantedone]

Let's see, what all did we discuss?

All in favor of theme-pickers choosing topics narrow and restrictive enough to keep games from lasting forever?

All in favor of not looking up each other's lyrics?

All in favor of calling out each other's lyrics only if we know from memory that they are wrong?

All in favor of the theme-picker looking up lyrics in case of disagreement?

[Katya]

Aye! (With the possible addition of a kill date for the round if the theme accidentally turns out to be too broad.)

What if the theme isn't clearly described, and people misinterpret in the first round? (I.e., as happened with the "musicians" round.)

[Dragon Lady]

If we do a kill date, can I be the random.org girl? Cuz that was fun. Holding the power of complete randomness! And let's be honest, I'm never gonna be a contender by the time a kill date comes around.

And I vote for one week for the kill date. It just seems about right.

[Katya]

If we do a kill date, can I be the random.org girl? Cuz that was fun. Holding the power of complete randomness! And let's be honest, I'm never gonna be a contender by the time a kill date comes around.

And I vote for one week for the kill date. It just seems about right.

I have no problem with you being our Encore Vanna White. Way to embed the code, too.

[bobtheenchantedone]

That's a good question, Katya. In my opinion, as long as the interpretation doesn't make the topic a whole lot more broad, it should be up to the topic person to decide whether to keep to the original intent (and allow those who misinterpreted either extra time to have a new song or just let them keep that one for the first day) or to allow the different interpretation.

I'm torn on the kill date; I want this to be a true battle of who can think of the most songs, not who can stay in long enough and then get lucky in the random drawing, but I also don't want others to get bored with a long game. Either way I think one week is not long enough. Maybe a week and a half?

I totally support DL as our Vanna White.